Dov S. Zakheim
The Hill, Mar. 21, 2025
“President Trump explicitly identified Iran as a potential American target should Tehran continue to support the Houthis.”
Shortly after America had achieved its independence from Great Britain, the new nation confronted a threat from the Ottoman provinces of Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli. Beginning in 1784, raiders from these statelets along the Barbary coast, known as the Barbary Pirates, would attack American merchant shipping, capturing sailors for whom they initially extorted ransom and subsequently protection money in the form of tribute from the U.S.
For 15 years, American merchant ships were victims of unceasing harassment. American attempts to negotiate a ransom arrangement that would put an end to what was effectively state-sponsored terrorism met with no success. As a result, in 1801, President Thomas Jefferson, elected the previous year, determined to no longer coddle the Barbary rulers.
Backed by manpower and materiel from the Kingdom of Naples, America went to war against the Barbary states. By 1805, a series of American naval victories culminated in the Battle of Derna — fought by a combined force of newly commissioned American ships, marines and foreign mercenaries — and led to a peace treaty with the ruler of Tripoli.
Algiers, on the other hand, continued to harass American shipping until the U.S. went to war against that Barbary state and defeated its forces in 1815. Nevertheless, although the Dey (ruler) of Algiers signed a peace treaty with Washington, he soon renounced it. Algerian pirates continued to attack American and European shipping until a joint Anglo-Dutch force bombarded Algiers in 1816. Once again, the Dey signed a treaty with the U.S. — one he did not renounce. His capitulation finally brought an end to the conflict. …SOURCE